Chinese Rule

The Dalai Lama said he has given up on efforts to convince Beijing to allow greater autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule. The Tibetan spiritual leader said he would now ask the Tibetan people to decide how to take the dialogue forward. China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of leading a campaign to split Tibet from the rest of the country. But he says he is only seeking greater autonomy for the Himalayan region to protect its unique Buddhist culture. "There hasn't been any positive response from the Chinese side," he said in Dharmsala, the north Indian town that is home to Tibet's government-in-exile.

Surgeons successfully removed gallstones from the Dalai Lama, and the Tibetan spiritual leader should be able to travel again by the end of the month, aides said. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Buddhist elder was hospitalized Thursday in New Delhi. He had arrived earlier in the week for a checkup. He had been admitted to a hospital in August and underwent tests then for abdominal discomfort. The Dalai Lama lives in the north Indian town of Dharmsala, where he set up his government-in-exile.

The largest pro-independence demonstrations in the Tibetan capital in nearly two decades have rattled the Chinese government as it struggles to contain growing criticism of its human rights record in the run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics. More than 500 Buddhist monks participated in marches toward the center of Lhasa, shouting slogans against China's 57-year rule over Tibet. Two of Tibet's three most important monasteries participated in the protests Monday and Tuesday.

A Chinese court ruled Friday that a Chinese science fiction writer did not have enough evidence to prove that 20th Century Fox stole his ideas when making the 2004 movie "The Day After Tomorrow." Li Jianmin, 43, had said there were at least 308 scenes in the film that were substantially similar to the concept and plots of two plays he completed in 2001 and 2002, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

A Chinese appeals court has upheld a ban against a company trying to sell land on the moon, ruling that "celestial bodies" could not be anyone's property, state media said Saturday. Lunar Embassy to China, a Beijing-based company that sold plots of lunar land to individuals, sued the Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce, which revoked its business license and fined it $6,500 in October 2005. Haidian District People's Court ruled against the company in November 2005.

Thousands of people marched in a pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong, where a pro-Beijing parade also drew a big crowd on the ninth anniversary of the former British colony's return to Chinese rule. Police said 28,000 people joined the pro-democracy event, while the organizers estimated that 58,000 attended. The turnout was drastically lower than the half a million who marched in 2003 and 2004. Pro-Beijing groups held a parade that attracted 40,000 people, police and organizers said.

HONG KONG -- The last time Kwok Ka-ki joined a street protest was 14 years ago, when Chinese authorities crushed the budding pro-democracy movement in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Now the 42-year-old physician is so upset with Hong Kong's leaders that he has decided to go out again. Herman Chan, a 49-year-old suit-and-tie-wearing businessman, understands why. He has never before lifted a protest banner but says he's ready now. "Now is not the time to stay silent," he said.

The first major trade spat since China joined the World Trade Organization heated up this week after U.S. officials failed to resolve a dispute over new Chinese regulations on imports of genetically modified crops that could trigger the loss of billions of dollars in U.S. sales. U.S. farmers fear China is building a new wall of protectionist hurdles to foreign goods now that it is being forced to lower tariffs and open its market as a member of the Geneva-based WTO.

The people of Hong Kong mark the fourth anniversary of their return to Chinese sovereignty today amid an uneasy sense that the biggest threat to their political autonomy may not be from Beijing but from within the territory. Government critics--and there are many--claim that the region's leadership is ill-advised, overly cautious and lacking in vision.

August 22, 1999 | SERGIO ORTIZ, Sergio Ortiz is a freelance writer based in Malibu

The Englishman from Kent was hunched over a wooden table, his fingers grasping a frothing pint of ale. Soccer pennants hung from rough-hewn rafters, and photos of rugby stars covered the walls. The Mersey Sound from the '60s drifted from speakers and danced with the cigarette smoke and muted laughter swirling pleasantly around us. Over in a corner stood the obligatory dartboard, where a couple was in the middle of a spirited game of "301."